Invoca surveyed 1,000 US consumers, finding that when making a typical purchase of less than $100, just 9% feel that the ability to understand their emotions is the most important attribute a salesperson can display. But when they were asked about making stressful or complicated purchases, 25% said that emotional quotient (EQ) is most important.

Consumers attribute a range of characteristics to high EQ interactions. However the most important are:

Humans Still Preferred

Seven in 10 respondents believe that brands will mostly rely on artificial intelligence (AI) for communications 5 years from now, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re excited about it.

8 in 10 respondents feel that human representatives in person offer the best emotional quotient, with human representatives on the phone (49%) perceived as offering the next-best interactions. Far fewer feel that voice assistants (24%) and chatbots (22%) can offer a solid emotional quotient, indicating that human interaction is still crucial.

Returning to the Invoca study, fewer than one-third of respondents under the age of 35 believe that it’s probable that voice AI can offer them a sense of EQ, and only half as many respondents ages 55 and older share that belief.

Moreover, majorities of both men (65%) and women (56%) feel that AI will make experiences less personal.

Finally, while most respondents feel that companies across industries meet their emotional needs most or all of the time in-person or on the phone, only around 35-40% feel that way about email and fewer than one-third about chat.

More results and takeaways can be found in the report, which is available for download here.